branches up, roots down

I subscribe to the Weekly World News . It provides no end of amusement, and I tend to agree with Tommy Lee Jones’s character in Men In Black that it’s the most reliable newspaper in the world. With it’s in depth articles on such things as the stairway to heaven collapsing, and its steady coverage on Elvis sightings, it keeps me well updated on the common bizarreness of planet earth. I consider it a kind of “Shamanic Times”. This week, with the demotion of Pluto as a planet, the news can’t be much weirder. I’m waiting to see what the Weekly World News will make of it. Pluto is the God of the Underworld, of all that lies below the surface. All the qualities of the god have also been ascribed to the now demoted planet. In Astrology, the energies of Pluto are transforming, as Pluto is the energy of the subconscious, which is the dirt and ground our actions take root in. Pluto is also associated with renewal and rebirth. It represents endings and new beginnings, as well as spiri...

Years back, one of my dearest friends remarked that what made me an excellent therapist was a challenge for me relationship wise. I believe in redemption, that things can change. I hone my eye on what’s healthy, breathing into that as opposed to focusing on what’s not. I don’t give up easily. As a therapist, these traits have been a great blessing, and they have infused my work. In relationship to anything else, they are a mixed bag. I have tended to stay in things longer than is good for me, and have had a high tolerance for dynamics that others quickly walk away from, focusing instead on the bits and pieces of possibilities for change. If I love something or someone, I hang on tight. Recently, as discussions about Reclaiming have swirled, and I move from dating into a more committed relationship, I’ve been thinking on what my friend told me years ago, and about those most difficult (for me) questions; At what moment is it most appropriate to not tenaciously hold on but to ea...

Soon after Lammas, the largest pagan gathering in the United States occurs in Memphis , Tennessee . The gathering is called “Dead Week” and every year it swells in attendance. At this point, well over 50, 000 devotees make the pilgrimage to honor the death of America ’s own Sun King, Elvis Aron Presley. Elvis is the newest indigenous pagan god to be worshipped on these shores since the European ancestors landed here and began their assault on the local deities and their worshippers. Elvis the historical figure died over twenty years ago, but the mythical Elvis is gaining an ever increasing number of followers. Reclaiming witches have the saying, “What is remembered lives.” If there’s a germ of truth to that, then Elvis is alive and thriving. Look around and you will see that as Mojo Nixon says, Elvis is everywhere. More than any other of our cultural icons, he remains alive in our popular consciousness. It is becoming increasingly acknowledged that the Elvis phenomenon can...

Supposedly the phrase “may you live in interesting times” is a Chinese curse. As a witch, experienced with the power of paradox, I’m pretty clear that a curse can be a blessing as well, and vice a versa. These are interesting times. Sometimes I feel blessed by that, and this week, well, it’s felt more like a curse. Everything feels in spin, everything in flux, and as usual, the inner mirrors the outer, the outer mirrors the inner. What’s going to happen? Just wondering about that is exhausting. Best to just keep breathing and attempt to think about other things. As I breathe, one of the things my mind continues to chew on is the bone of Reclaiming, the spiritual tradition I’ve been part of creating. At the witchcamp I just taught at, my friend Rook and I taught a path on Reclaiming and Feri. I am a Reclaiming and Feri initiate, Rook is neither, and has been turned off to the glamour of Feri as he’s seen in shimmer thru his community. We didn’t so much as “teach” as we did faci...

We just passed Lammas, the cross –quarter holiday between Summer Solstice and Equinox. I’ve marked this sabbat for well over twenty years, and have planned and attended countless public rituals celebrating it. Lammas is also known as Lughnasadh, in honor of the Celtic sun god, Lugh, who began his descent after the solstice. It’s said to be both his wake and his wedding day, depending on which resource you go to. Lammas was a time in which the beginning of the harvest season was celebrated, and grain and bread were especially honored. In Reclaiming, we’ve usually focused on the sacrifice and death of the god of the grain, relating this also to Lugh, the Sun God, and how both die, only to be reborn, again and again. This year Lammas found me trying to get my feet back on the ground after the intoxicating high of both falling in love and being at witchcamp. I came back from witchcamp and not only had a full week of work to focus on, but the return of my son from his adventures...

I'm back from witchcamp. There was no internet there, but I was planning to write each day. Those plans were dropped by the third day. After a rest, I'll write about the upshot, but in short...it was fabulous! The last ritual ended up being priestessed by the Crone affinity camp, unplanned and spontaneously, but it worked...but more of that later. here's the beginning report: Day One Yesterday we arrived at Claymont, a 360 acre retreat center in West Virgina , near Harper’s Ferry. The energy of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers can be felt here, and I’m wishing I knew more about this land’s history, as I’m starting to feel it. There are two big buildings to house us, The Barn and The Mansion. The Barn is actually a renovated school, with two big wings of bedrooms. I feel blessed that I have a room to myself, with four beds. Three have all my witchy ritual wear laid out on them, so the room has become quite festive. My Elvis tapestry is also up. I haven’t ma...

Georgia and I woke up at 5:15 this morning. Why couldn’t we sleep? I’m jet-lagged, but time at home would be 2:15, so that doesn’t quite explain it. Maybe we’re excited about camp. We’re leaving shortly, and we’re now all packed and ready to go. Georgia ’s worried about bugs, and I have to say, hearing about the abundance of chiggers and ticks has me feeling like I should wrap myself in saran wrap. What would a camp be without bugs or poison ivy or oak? I’m teaching with my good friend Rook and we’ve bitten off a lot, doing a path on which utilizes the iron and pearl pentacle in examining the intersection of the Reclaiming and Feri tradition. Georgia ’s been planning her path for months, and has a big binder with the path all typed up and laid out. Rook and I are winging it. There’s not a goddamn thing on paper yet, and I’m trusting that our many conversations on the topic will yield something. Co-creation in action. Which I think really means not planning much. It’s on...